04. August 12

Things are not going as wished in the Douro valley. After a very dry Winter and a wet and windy flowering, now, in the middle of the summer, it was time for the hail to come. So far, we had a couple of storms that left some damage behind. The first occurred on Wednesday of last week, in the area of Sabrosa. Then, on Friday last week, another storm left a sad mark in the region, this time in the area of Horta do Douro, southeast of the Douro valley. The Wednesday one, around Sabrosa, was pretty strong, destroying not only grapes but also vine shooting, which may affect the vine for a longer period of time and which will require special attention at pruning time. Also the grapes that are left in the vine, in most of the cases, are damaged and may not get to full maturity.